Saskatchewan organizations outline wish list ahead of the provincial budget

Saskatchewan’s provincial budget is set to be announced Wednesday at the legislature and several organizations have outlined what they’d like to see.

The Greater Saskatoon Chamber of Commerce is hoping for more focus on small and medium sized businesses, saying those businesses create a large portion of Saskatchewan’s GDP, payrolls and trade.

“According to the Canadian Chamber, 98 per cent of businesses in our country and province qualify as small businesses with micro firms by far the most common. This underscores the need to develop a business climate and regulatory environment that boosts the resilience of small businesses. Put simply, the survival of small business is a big issue for our city and province,” the chamber said in a February release.

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The chamber listed several measures it would like to see implemented that it has pushed for in the past year:

• create a new small and midsize enterprise investment tax credit
• freeze the Small Business Corporate Tax Rate at one per cent
• implement provincial Property Tax Reform
• provide a small business rebate for the impacts of property damage and petty crime
• act on the made in Saskatchewan “Fund of Funds” proposal, creating an independent fund that would invest in other independently managed funds leveraging government capital with private sector capital
• remove PST on new construction projects
• commit funds for Saskatoon’s downtown revitalization and event facilities

“We believe these measures would contribute significantly to the economic prosperity of Saskatchewan and advance the government’s growth plan.”

CUPE also weighed in on what it would like to see come from the upcoming budget, with its focus on Saskatchewan workers.

“This budget needs a plan to create good jobs, bigger paycheques, to protect public services, fix the health care crisis and clean up the mess in education,” said Kent Peterson, president of CUPE Saskatchewan. “Failing to do so sends a clear message — Scott Moe doesn’t care about workers and needs to be fired.”

The union said there are 31,000 members of CUPE in the province working in public services like health care, education and municipal sectors and claimed that those workers were adversely affected by government underfunding and mismanagement.

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The Saskatchewan Federation of Labour was looking for the government to eliminate hospital wait times, address education and raise wages.

“It’s simple: good schools, good hospitals, and good wages are good for workers and good for the economy,” SFL president Lori Johb said.

Johb said wait times at doctor’s offices, in emergency rooms, for surgery, and for elder care are hurting people and the economy.

She added that the government securing a deal with teachers, who are in the midst of bargaining deliberations, would improve education and create a skilled workforce in the province. Johb said the province needs to go back to the bargaining table or agree to the teachers’ offer of binding arbitration.

Johb ended by saying that Saskatchewan has the lowest minimum wage in Canada and that residents are struggling to make ends meet. She said raising the minimum wage would help jump start the economy and slow young people from leaving the province.

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The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is looking for Scott Moe’s government to cut the sales tax and small business tax, as well as end corporate welfare.

“Saskatchewanians have gone too long without a tax cut,” said Gage Haubrich, CTF prairie director.

“Families are struggling to afford rent, gas and groceries. It’s time that the government put money back in the pockets of Saskatchewan taxpayers.”

Haubrich said cutting the PST by one percentage point would save the average Saskatchewan family $322 a year.

He added that permanently cutting the small business tax would save the average small business about $2,000 a year.

“The government needs to stop its wasteful spending and end taxpayer-funded corporate welfare handouts.”

The federation said it was also calling for the provincial government to create a non-renewable resource revenues heritage fund so that money can be saved for the future in Saskatchewan.

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